


Against the Dying Light (old)

by Jennawynn, Rhapsody0607



Category: Call of Cthulhu (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 06:05:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11961264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jennawynn/pseuds/Jennawynn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhapsody0607/pseuds/Rhapsody0607
Summary: Saved for Reasons, but for the final version, please go to the other version of this fic. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14091819Near the end of their quest to defeat the Cult of Dagon and return Cthulhu to his slumber, the party is split. Cyan has been infected with some sort of madness-inducing goo for days while Arizona's infection is much more recent.





	Against the Dying Light (old)

**Author's Note:**

> We weren't sure we'd get to explore our characters' relationship in the game without hogging too much time and camera from the others, so we sat down and wrote this.
> 
> A touch of backstory to make things clearer, Cyan's an actress who uses a stage name (named for the color of her pixie cut like P!nk) and Arizona is a high-ranking organized crime boss. Arizona's a big flirt who turned soft around Cyan and has been calling her "Princess" since the beginning, but Cyan's had walls up since they met. Cyan's also been documenting their whole adventure with her cellphone set in a pocket as both light and camera.

Arizona and Cyan both panted heavily, bent over with their hands on their knees after the statue finally fell into place in front of the door. 

 

"That should hold them."

 

As the heavy breathing inside the room subsided, the faint sound of muttering, clawing, and the thumps of tentacles beating against the door grew. They'd run for shelter when the giant ooze-creature came up between them and the rest of their party, and fortifying the door had seemed the best idea at the time.

 

"Do you think Doc and Saiid made it out?" 

 

"I hope they did," Arizona answered as she looked around the room.

 

Cyan picked up her machete from where she'd dropped it and fit it back into the sheath on her back. She used the light from her phone to help Arizona do a more thorough sweep of the room, looking for alternate exits or anything useful. Unfortunately, the room appeared to be little more than an old storage closet with bits and pieces of rotten wood and broken statues scattered about, but no other doors. 

 

"Well, shit." Cyan sat down against a bare wall, facing the toppled statue that blocked their only escape path.

 

Arizona coughed out a half-laugh and sat next to Cyan. "It could suck more. We could be trapped back in the other room with the tentacle monster. Have our brains eaten or whatever it does."

 

Cyan sighed and turned the flash of her phone off, leaving only the dim light of the screen to see by. "At least that would be quick. We have maybe a day of light," she said, gesturing to the phone, "a couple days before we die of dehydration. And that's if the infection doesn't drive us to kill each other first."

 

Arizona pulled out her weapon and checked the chamber. "I'd rather not be forced to kill you."

 

Cyan raised an eyebrow, eyeing the gun. "But you're getting ready to anyway?"

 

Arizona smiled and held it out to Cyan. "No. That's just one option."

 

Cyan took the weapon and set it on the ground before pushing it away with her foot. "What's the other option?"

 

"We could be all poetic and just lose our minds together."

 

Cyan laughed and leaned into Arizona. "I understood that reference. You know... it didn't end up that great for them either." 

 

Arizona wrapped her arm around Cyan and pulled her closer. "No, it didn't."

 

With a sigh, Cyan let herself melt into the embrace. "I'm sorry too, you know."

 

"What do you have to be sorry about?"

 

"You're not the only one who was being an ass. Teasing and leading you on like I was... I was so mad at you for trying to protect me, but I was doing the same thing. I figured it would hurt you less if we never acted on it... if you survived and I didn't. I shouldn't have taken the choice away from you."

 

Arizona smiled softly. "You didn't take my choice away. I always chose you. I still do."

 

Cyan snorted. "How am I supposed to take you seriously when you say stuff like that?" She paused for a second and her grin fell away. "You make it so easy to just laugh it off and tease back and never worry about being serious... but you are, aren't you?"

 

Arizona tilted her head to find Cyan's eyes in the dim light. "Yes, I am. I don't trust, but I've learned to trust you. I don't care about others, but I care about you. I don't love, but I... know you're important to me."

 

Cyan sat up and looked away, listening to the erratic thumps coming from outside the room. "You don't even  _know_ me. But now I'm wondering if it even matters since we'll probably never leave this room."

 

"Don't I? I may not know where you grew up, how many bones you've broken, or what your life is like outside of all this madness, but I do know that you're kind and caring. I know you'd do almost anything to help and protect others and that makes you fearless. I know that despite appearances, you're a force to be reckoned with. I know you're fiercely loyal and are driven by a need to do the right thing. And I can't help but be drawn to somebody so resilient, so... raw with emotion that you force yourself to hide it."

 

Cyan was quiet for a long moment as she tried to blink back tears. "Denver."

 

Arizona's answering smile brightened the room. "Colorado, huh? I'm from Brooklyn."

 

"Never would've guessed," Cyan smirked. After a pause, the smirk fell into a frown and Cyan stiffened. "Do you hear that?"

 

Arizona frowned. "Hear what?" 

 

Cyan scrambled to her feet and started pulling at the statue they'd toppled. "You don't hear her screaming? We've gotta help her. Help me move this!"

 

Arizona jumped to her feet. "Cyan, wait. Stop! I don't hear anything!"

 

Cyan started tugging at the statue's shoulder. The faint grunts of exertion and grinding noise of stone on stone were the only audible noise besides the ever-present thumping of tentacles at the door. Arizona slowly stepped up to Cyan's side and put her hand on her shoulder, but Cyan didn't seem to notice. She yanked on the statue again and it shifted enough that the door tilted on its hinges. The top corner fell inward, revealing a gap that was instantly filled with a searching tentacle. 

 

Arizona pulled on Cyan's shoulder enough to turn her body and pulled the pistol from Cyan's shoulder holster. She climbed onto the fallen statue and fired several shots down into the gap until the tentacle receded and an inhuman shriek outside was met with a very human scream inside. Arizona turned to see Cyan curled into a ball, covering her ears. She jumped back off the statue and shoved it back against the door before rushing to Cyan. 

 

She put her hands over where Cyan's hands covered her own ears. "Cyan? You're ok now. We're going to be all right. You're ok."

 

Arizona slowly coaxed Cyan up into a seated position, but as she unfolded, Arizona saw a trickle of blood coming from her nose, mixing with the tears streaming from her eyes. Before Arizona could find something to wipe the blood away, Cyan burrowed her face into Arizona's shoulder and wrapped herself around Arizona in desperation. Arizona shifted slightly and pulled her closer. She hummed a tune and ran her fingers through Cyan's short hair, trying to comfort her. 

 

"I don't want to die," Cyan whispered.

 

"When I was twenty, I almost died. Some people abducted me, tortured me, left me for dead. It was the first time I was truly afraid. Afraid of dying, afraid that I didn't really live." She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. I don't really know how to comfort people."

 

Cyan pulled back a bit and chuckled through her tears. "I can tell.... That must have been terrible." She tried to wipe the tears from her face with the heel of her hand. "I just... ever since the infection, I've been trying to accept it. If it had to be done, I needed to be the one to do it... but I'm scared. I don't want to be scared, but I am."

 

Arizona lifted her hand to help wipe her tears, but when she caught sight of the infected cut on her palm, she stopped short. "It's ok to be scared. It doesn't make you weak, it just makes you human. ...and at least you won't be alone." 

 

"You don't think we're going to make it out of here, do you?" 

 

"I think we have a fighting chance if we work together..."

 

"You," Cyan started, putting her hand to Arizona's cheek, "are a terrible liar."

 

"I just can't seem to lie to you." Arizona leaned forward and rested her forehead against Cyan's. "I'm sorry I don't have the right words."

 

Cyan sighed and relaxed a little more, her hand falling from Arizona's cheek to her lap. "They're right enough. I... can't say I'm where you are. Not yet. And we might not ever get the chance to get there... but if things were different, if we don't die here, I think I might like to try."

 

Arizona smiled. "This," she said, motioning between them, "is more than I ever expected."

 

Cyan took a deep breath and exhaled as she sat up to face Arizona. "I don't want to die here. I don't want to go slow and starve or dehydrate or be trapped in a dark room, and clearly the infection's already starting to get to me. We could stay and wait to see if Doc and Saiid made it and are trying to stage a rescue... but what if they're trapped too? I think I'd rather go out fighting. See if we can save them. Who knows... maybe we'll be able to get a drink when it's all over. After all, if the hero survives, they usually get the girl at the end too."

 

Arizona got to her feet and offered Cyan her hand. "Well, are you ready to go save humanity, Princess?"

 

Cyan stared up at her for a moment, then took her hand to stand. "If you keep calling me Princess, I'm gonna regret saying any of this."

 

Arizona grinned, held Cyan's hand tighter, and looked into her eyes. "Well, I wouldn't want that, Cyan."

 

"It's... Patricia, actually. I just thought it was too boring for the stage."

 

Arizona chuckled. "There's nothing boring about you."

 

Cyan picked up their weapons and handed Arizona's to her. "Ready?"

 

Arizona took the gun and nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."

 

Cyan turned the flashlight for her phone back on, hit record, and set it back in the pouch on her vest. She looked at Arizona again, leaned up on her toes and kissed her. "For luck," she explained as she pulled away.

 

Arizona beamed. "Plan T: Take 'em by storm." 

 

They pulled the statue away from the door and faced the cultists together.


End file.
